1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to embroidery and, more particularly, to improved embroidery and a method thereof that is applicable to fabrics of articles comprised of loosely knitted material.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional embroidery is well known and has been in use for a number of years. Embroidery may be defined as a decorative design that is formed by stitching threads or yarn directly onto a fabric. In general, conventional embroidery methods include embroidering a design on desired pre-cut pieces of a fabric from which an article of clothing is to be made. That is, a desired fabric is first generally cut to various pieces that constitute the whole of the article of clothing, and then embroidery is applied to a desired individual fabric piece. For example, the fabric may be cut to pieces that form the sleeves of a shirt, the back piece thereof, the front piece, and so on, which when sewn together form the shirt. Before sewing the fabric pieces, embroidery is directly applied to the desired fabric piece of the article of clothing in accordance with a predetermined design, and thereafter, all the pieces are sewn together to form the clothing.
Regrettably, conventional embroidery methods suffer from major disadvantages when applied to fabric comprised of loosely knitted material, a non-limiting example of which may include fabric of a T-shirt that is comprised of loosely knitted cotton. Most conventional fabrics for garments such as shirts are comprised of very loosely knitted material, such as cotton, for comfort of the wearer (with added spandex or latex fibers for improved elasticity). However, the loosely knitted material (with the added elasticity) of the fabric also allows the fabric to easily stretch (or shrink when washed). During embroidery, the embroidered areas of the fabric piece tend to “gather” due to the loose nature (ease of elasticity or stretching) of the fabric versus the number and stitch tightness of the threads that constitute the embroidery. In addition, when washed, the shrinkage of the fabric tends to wrinkle or warp the surround fabric of the embroidery (and sometimes the actually embroidery itself).
Another drawback with the conventional embroidery is that they feel very coarse or abrasive on the skin. This is particularly problematic when the article of clothing is a T-shirt where in general, they are worn without any undershirts. The conventional embroidery on the T-shirt worn by an individual directly contacts the skin of the wearer, with the embroidered threads extending from inside the T-shirt, making wearing the embroidered T-shirt very uncomfortable due to irritation of the skin caused by the coarse or abrasive feel of the embroidery threads against the skin.
A further drawback with conventional embroidery is the amount of time, material, and labor intensiveness used to embroider an article. In general, most conventional embroidery methods use a very large number of stitching threads, which consume a larger volume of material (of threads or yarn), including the time to actually complete a typical embroidered design.
Accordingly, in light of the current state of the art and the drawbacks to current embroidering methodologies mentioned above, a need exists for an improved embroidery and a method thereof that would be applicable on most fabrics, including fabric comprised of loosely knitted material, that would substantially maintain its graphic design regardless of variations in properties or characteristics of the underlying material, that would not feel abrasive or coarse against skin, and that would be more efficient and cost effective to make in terms of time, labor, and material used.